The subtitle to this Rollover asks "You thought it was OVER?"

Because this mission continues directly from the last mission.

A rather fun part comes where Blahking shows up in his alter ego- although Catrina's unaware of who it is at first. There's also the standard in fighting, clues to where the Toot really IS, a little betrayal, hints of things to come, and Dash beginning to try to make amends over his issues with Catrina.

It was a bit different starting with the crew from last time assembled already. There was the question of if everyone here would roleplay for the next mission, too. They did, fortunatly, and they all did a pretty sweet job. Fulffy even snuck a co write in for this mission. Heh.
  Blahking tossed out individual missions for each of the present KOKOL'ers. Some did their assignments better than others. And while no one from the mission dropped out, the next mission featured a couple of new 'vixens' coming into AIL!

Ahwell! Onwards to the mission!

Feena watched as the battle developed, a sleeping Fluffy in her arms. Catrina had made her promise to stay on the sidelines, but as the battle wore on Feena found her heart drawn toward aiding the others, even if it was in some insignificant way. She watched Raw Hide as he parried attack after attack from the two gobs, an unsettling feeling within her as she realized that, on some level, she barely cared who won, except for the fact that Raw Hide was keeping these two from also attacking Dash, who was the one Catrina was so obviously drawn to and who, despite Catrina’s stories and much of what she had seen, seemed to be a very nice person.

Feena gasped as she watched the Head gob’s mount - a cat just as feral and black as Catrina was nice and white- pounced Dash and began to maul him. She placed Fuzzy down on the ground, the motion jostling him out of his slumber. “Hmm…huh…wha? What’s the matter, Feena?”

Feena sighed, finding herself forced to explain things to Fluffy before she could help the others. “Dash needs help! I’m going to help them!” She started into the fray, but suddenly felt a weight tug upon her robes. Fluffy had leapt up and grabbed the fabric and now hung there precariously. “Crazy girl! There’s nothing we can do!”

Feena looked back at the battlefield, and suddenly hoped Fluffy was wrong, for Grillhamo, the proud Captain of the Goblin Elite, had left his mount to her play and was now advancing on the two mages, unslinging his axe as he came. She lifted a silent plea to His Noodly Magnificence for strength to see this battle through, at the same time lifting Fluffy to her shoulders so he could see the advancing threat.

Grillhamo smirked. “Worried about your friends, little bunny? Do not be afraid- you and they will all be together again…once I help you make the transition!” He then raised his axe, just as Feena let loose with all she had- which unfortunately amounted to a minor ray of minor editing, which seemed to have little effect on the goblin. “Heh- pathetic…” He smiled as he began to swing, and Feena heard a roar, knowing that Dash had now, probably been taken into His noodly arms. She closed her eyes, waiting for the death blow…

She then opened them again, hearing the goblin’s cry of surprise. She was in time to see him sail up in the air, landing squarely on the back of his black cat steed, which immediately shot off down the mountain at full speed, the other goblins following quickly, leaving the four friends- beaten, bruised…and bewildered.

Raw Hide looked down the path- watching the goblin retreat. “What in Boris’ name was that all about?” Dash shook his head. “Nothing good, I bet. It’s never anything good. C’mon, let’s check the others.”

***

The Goblins were in full retreat- having had to fall back unexpectedly with the loss of their main objective. There was grumbling in the ranks- as always, but this time it concerned having to retreat not in defeat, but so close to a stunning victory. But their's was nothing compared to the growls that came from deeper in the woods to one side of the trail- where two figures sped silently and swiftly, hidden from easy view.

One of them growled in annoyance. <I don't understand, Master. We follow this. this thing, even though it is clear he lacks the heart of a hunter. His plans are too straightforward and he refuses to see the herd in respect to his prey. I mean, He's too simplistic to lead. You should ->

He stopped as he felt his Master's hand slam around his neck, the claws biting into the flesh slightly. <He is...> His Master intoned threateningly. <…our employer and meal ticket at present. We have not developed a good enough relationship with the others. Once we succeed there, these clowns will be expendable.> He released his slave. <Now, tell me what you saw. Was SHE there?>

The slave rubbed his throat, coughing once or twice before answering. <Y-yes Master. She was there, and she fought as well as you described! It is a pity she has turned her back on Felinekind to be involved with such a herd of prey animals! I-I think she saw me though...I am not sure, though...>

The Master growled, but then quieted down into a chuckle. <It does not matter if she saw you or not, soon she will be by my side again. Soon she will be my MATE again! Now, go- prepare a welcome for her. Do anything you must, short of killing her, but make sure she sees the wisdom of returning to me!>

The slave purred. <I know EXACTLY what to do, Master...> With that, he left the other, heading off on nefarious errands.

***

Catrina was hot on the trail of this new Feline as she sped along, just off the path, It was not Him, but she wanted very much to meet the owner of this scent because it may have been at the top of the mountain when the Penguins had turned the tables, and, more importantly, it had been watching her as she investigated- and Catrina wanted to know why!

She heard his roar off to the side and grinned, although the dropping of stealthy travel by her quarry disturbed her. He had been skirting the clearing up ahead, where Dash and the others were no doubt finishing up the gobs that had been coming- why announce himself to them? Unless…unless he had decided to take advantage of a weakened foe?

She hurried along, deciding not to follow his tracks around the clearing as she had first intended, thus avoiding her friends and their questions, but to cut directly through the clearing, therefore either being able to aid her friends should they need it, or get ahead of her quarry as he had to return close to the path on the other side in order to avoid several deadfalls and cliffs coming up. Then she could confront him and find out who he was and why he was spying on her!

She burst into the clearing, glancing around to see the others recovering from battle. Good, he was not attacking them! But as she made her way toward the outlet she saw them approach, and knew they would cut her off before she could make it. Indeed she felt Dash’s hand upon her arm, holding her back. She heard his question but did not really listen to what he said. She was livid! She needed to get after this new Feline, find out who he was. “Lemme go! Damnit…Dash, he’s getting away!”

She growled at Fluffy’s quip of “Getting away?! What're you talking about? I'm right here!” baring her fangs and expressing her claws. “Not you, HIM! And Dash, if you do not let me go this instant I will HURT you!” she growled at him...

The others looked at her; even Raw Hide was taken aback at this outburst. Dash gave her a stern smile, and his usual quipsome threat “Do that, kitten, and I tell the bunny all you ticklish places!” She felt Feena’s paw at her side, and as she looked down she heard the little bunny say “Catrina, please- all we want to know is what you found on the mountain. Is Toot safe?”

It suddenly hit Catrina like a cold slap across her muzzle. This mission was not about her problems with Him- or even with this new Feline she was tracking! Here the most important thing was the condition of Toot, and she had shoved it aside as secondary! She backed down, her ears and tail dropping, her chin against her chest. “You...you’re right...I-I'm sorry Dash....I need to go after him but...Gah...The Toot!”

Catrina looked sadly at the bunny. “I’m sorry hon, he’s not.” She glared at Raw Hide, giving him a look he had not seen from her since the Island, a look that could kill. “SOMEBODY had to go and bring his friends up here, and now they’ve gone and stabbed us all in the back!” Raw Hide looked as if he wouldn’t mind taking her on, but he guessed that the state of mind she was in now would mean she would be capable of doing anything. His protest of “Hey, they ain’t MY friends!” was generally ignored by the others.

Dash guided her gently back on subject. “Kill him later, kitten- focus now. How do you know that the Penguins have taken Toot?” Catrina looked at him, knowing it would take too long to explain the clues and such that led her to her conclusion. She could feel the trail getting colder, and not just because they were at the top of a mountain! “Come with me, I’ll show you what I found.” With that she bolted back up the path, the others following along as they could.

She was about to pass the bodies when she stopped. They needed to be shown what danger they were in, why it was so important that she track down and take care of not only the monster from her past, but also this new Feline who she had found. She waited as the others caught up with her, and then indicated the pile of leaves. “First off, you need to see this. I found them on the way up.” Dash knelt, clearing away the leaves from the two faces- still showing their terror even in death. He looked around quickly, hand on the hilt of Bad Beats. “He did this, right?” Catrina nodded. “He did one, but there are two different bite patterns. He’s got a friend.” She growled a little at the idea of two Feline acting like He did.

Raw Hide snorted. “Hey, I was just thinking. What’s to have kept kitty here from doing this and then trying to blame it all on this Him guy?” Catrina growled, her claws expressing. She would have attacked Raw Hide then and there for the slight, but found her way blocked by another. She watched with a swelling heart as Dash stood toe to toe with Raw Hide, obviously as upset as she. "Please!" Dash snorted, starring a hole into him. "Even you couldn't be stupid enough to believe that. I’m sorry we're NOT going to start accusing our friends of things like that! I made that mistake once, and I’ve regretted it ever since. Besides,” Dash smiled and winked over his shoulder at Catrina. “I’m sure Catrina is more than willing to give you a sample bite mark that will, no doubt, be different from these two.”

”I think that the lesson to be learned here is to trust your friends implicitly and to require proof from allies, don’t you agree?” Everyone turned, and Catrina growled as she saw the figure mount the rise. She’d seen this cloaked man several times before in the past. Her hands went for her katana but were stopped by Dash. She looked at him and whispered, more of a growling mutter than anything. “Dash, this man- I know of him. I’ve seen him before and always… his scent…I know he’s lying to us about something, I do not trust him.”

For a reaction Dash smiled, looking up at the stranger. “Hey, Osbron! My feline friend here doesn’t trust you! She says you have the scent of a liar!” The others, except for Feena, laughed, and Catrina was wondering what the joke was when the stranger (Osbron?) lowered his hood, revealing a handsome man with brown skin, a scar on his right cheek, and eyes that shone with such power that Catrina suddenly worried if she was picking another fight she could not win. His hair was cut short…Catrina did not know the style, not being one for hairdressers herself, but believed it was called a’buzzcut.’

He gave Fluffy a slow nod, and the little hamster left Feena’s grasp, grabbing Catrina’s braid and swarming up it until he stood on her shoulders. “Hey Prince!” He waved, then whispered in Catrina’s ear. “"You know, Cat- after all the trouble you've been through I can see why you'd like a piece of the guy who sent you here...”

Catrina looked at Fluffy in disbelief. “Are...are you telling me that HE’S... heh, yeah- good one. And I'm Jenna of the-“Suddenly there was a change in the wind, and she caught his scent again. Gone was the acrid tang of a lie, replaced with....

Catrina gathered her jaw up off the ground, closing her mouth before she had a chance to stick her paw in it again.

Osbron smiled, "Now that that's settled- I believe you were taking us to the top?

Catrina nodded; glad the Prince did not seem to take offense at her slight. She led them onward- up the path toward the Oriole, stopping at the unlucky Goblin just long enough to show the others, then hurried up to the main clearing. She waited for them, then led them carefully through what she had found, using the staleness of the scents to piece together a picture of the battle, ending with the breaking of Toot’s cage and his capture. She now waited, her tail twitching anxiously as she waited on the others to understand, feeling the trail of her quarry getting colder with each passing moment.

***

Osbron cleared his throat for emphasis. "I don't suppose I'll need to reiterate the importance of this mission."

No responses, other than Raw Hide clearing his throat, so after the obligatory response, Osbron continued.

"Good, since I doubt we'll have much time, anyway. Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Dash looked to Catrina, obviously concerned. "Then let's go, Catrina."

"Dash, I. . . " Catrina started.

"Not so fast!" Osbron interrupted. "Dash, I've an important assignment that's going to need your special touch."

Dash shot him an "Are you serious?" look, but it was clear to him Osbron knew what he was talking about. Osbron continued. "I need to understand what we're up against, so I need someone we can trust. We'll all have our jobs to do. This is yours."

Although a thousand reasons to protest might have been going through Dash's mind, he simply nodded, turning to Catrina. "Do you know where they went?"

Catrina indicated a direction with her claw. "I doubt anything but a penguin could find it's way down that trail."

"Bit of a problem," Dash admitted. He idly scratched his chin for a minute, trying to add it up in his mind. "Doesn't matter. I know where I can cut them off. Stay safe, kitten."

Dash bounded off, realizing he'd have no time to spare, down a different path. Osbron turned to Raw Hide. "Interesting. They're not headed towards their headquarters. I take it your idea was to manipulate the Penguin Mafia into believing we're allies?"

Raw Hide grunted. "I'm beginning to think it didn't work. So I say I just smash their skulls in."

Catrina threw her hands up in disbelief. "BEGINNING to think it didn't work?! Lady and gentlemen, we have ourselves a bonafide GENIUS! OF COURSE it didn't work! They're the flippi' MAFIA!"

Raw Hide growled at her. She growled back. Osbron decided he didn't have time for this, and stepped between the two. "Not now. I know you both to be exceptional in battle, and I'm going to need to rely on that. Raw Hide, do you think you could stir up another yeti attack on the base?"

"Sure could!" Raw Hide boasted, thumping his fist on his chest. "Not even a challenge."

"Without letting them know who's behind it?" Osborn added.

That caught Raw Hide off guard. "Hmm, lil trickier, but why not? Be more fun that way."

"After all," Osbrom assured him with a deceptive smile, "If we can make them think we're more gullable than we are, maybe we can outmanipulate them in the long run."

Raw Hide laughed, and continued laughing as he made his way towards the Villa.

"Whatever you've got for me, save it," Catrina begin as soon as Osbron began to speak. "I'm going after my 'former associate,' and I'm coming back with his head, if that's what it takes to stop him."

Surprisingly, Osbron didn't protest. Instead, he gave her a simple nod. "I figured as much. All right, two things. You report ANYthing you find to me as soon as possible. Two, you don't take so much as a sliver of a chance unless you absolutely have to. If you so much as think about violating either of those conditions, I'll track you down myself and make sure you never set foot in the Kingdom proper again. Understand?"

He planted an extra voice in her head as well. "And believe me, I will know."

She turned, growling in the direction she was about to bound off in. "Fine. Although I seriously doubt I'll be able to avoid serious violence."

Before he could raise a protest, she vanished into the distance, propelled by two powerful humanlike feline legs. Osbron smiled to himself as he turned to Fluffy. "Feisty one, isn't she? You're with Feena."

"I know, I know," Fluffy whined, hopping off the Price's shoulder. "Hey- uh.. where IS Feena?"

Osbron shrugged. "Hopefully, somewhere safe. Find her. I've got to get back to the Kingdom to send that backup we talked about."

Osbron turned to start off, pausing only to chuckle as Fluffy dramatically stood on both hind legs, shot him an overly dramatic military salute, and said, "Sir, yes, sir! Yeesh. . . "

He hated splitting his forces up like this, but with so many pieces of the puzzle missing, and all the personality conflicts, there was no other option.

Next up.. that mysterious Feline we mentioned earlier... ... ..